RTC Seeks Bids on 81 State Sites
The Resolution Trust Corp. said Monday that it is soliciting sealed bids for 81 commercial properties in California, which were acquired from failed savings and loans and have a market value of about $190 million.
The list of properties being sold by the RTC, the federal agency charged with the S&L; cleanup, is made up largely of former branch offices of 26 failed thrifts. Other properties include office buildings, apartments, industrial sites, shopping centers and raw land.
Among the properties are nine structures in Orange County, including the two four-story buildings that once made up the headquarters of Mercury Savings & Loan in Huntington Beach. That 2.5-acre parcel is listed at nearly $2.9 million.
One of the more valuable properties--and the most expensive in Orange County--is the 106-unit Sunset Plaza Apartments at Ball Road and Dale Street in Anaheim. The list price for the property, which comes from the portfolio of FarWest Savings in Newport Beach, is $8.95 million.
The 21 parcels in the offering come from eight failed county thrifts. Eight properties are from Mercury’s portfolio, four from Lincoln Savings & Loan in Irvine, three from Guardian Savings & Loan in Huntington Beach, two from FarWest and one each from American Savings & Loan in Irvine, Pacific Savings Bank in Costa Mesa, American Interstate Savings & Loan in Newport Beach and Beach Savings in Fountain Valley.
Of the eight thrifts, only FarWest and Guardian continue to be operated by the RTC while the others have since been closed.
The most expensive property in the offering is the former headquarters of Gibraltar Savings in Simi Valley, listed at $26 million.
Other major properties include an apartment building in Vallejo listed at $16.5 million, a retail center in Escondido listed at $5.6 million and a Wilshire Boulevard office in Beverly Hills, listed for $10.8 million, which formerly belonged to Columbia Savings.
Bidders may make offers on one or more properties until the close of business on Jan. 30. The RTC will finance purchases, although the agency added that it will give preference to all-cash offers. Cushman & Wakefield in Los Angeles has been hired to assist in the sale.
The agency has been moving aggressively to get rid of some of the real estate it has accumulated. Last month, the agency took in $106 million during an auction near Palm Springs of top commercial properties.
